About The Petroleum Quality Institute of America
The Petroleum Quality Institute of America (PQIA) conducts independent testing of consumer, commercial, and industrial lubricants. PQIA’s mission is to serve the consumer of lubricants by testing and reporting on the quality and integrity of lubricants in the marketplace. It is expected that this improved visibility of quality will lead to wider conformance by lubricant manufacturers to specification and performance claims.
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PQIA Supporters
The Following Companies Support the Petroleum Quality Institute of America’s Efforts to Help Assure the Quality and Integrity of Lubricants in the Marketplace.
PQIA Advisory Board
PQIA Advisory Board
The Petroleum Quality Institute of America’s Advisory Board comprises a distinguished group of professionals with prominence in a broad range of fields in the lubricants business. The role of the Advisory Board is to provide PQIA’s management with guidance, advice, recommendations and counsel in how to best pursue PQIA’s purpose and mission. MORE>>

Inconvenient Truth About Convenience Store Motor Oil
We expect the motor oils we purchase for our cars to protect our engines from wear, sludge, and rust, and indeed most of the oils on retail shelves do so quite well. But there are some products out there that will not only fail to protect your engine; instead they will actually damage it! And
More on MaxLife ATF
PQIA received a number of calls and emails following the update it published last week on the assessment of the Valvoline MaxLife DEX/MERC ATF. Understandably, due to the label on the product prominently stating “DEX/MERC,” and the Product Information sheet stating “Suitable for use in: Ford MERCON®” most of the questions were directed at asking

Alarms Should Go Off When You Read "Top-Off" on an Oil Bottle
The Petroleum Quality Institute of America advises consumers to be cautious of motor oil and transmission fluids labeled or sold as “top off” oil. PQIA is seeing an increase in the number of poor quality motor oils and transmission fluids in the marketplace with labels describing the products as “top off oil. The term “top

Alarms Should Go Off When You Read “Top-Off” on an Oil Bottle
The Petroleum Quality Institute of America advises consumers to be cautious of motor oil and transmission fluids labeled or sold as “top off” oil. PQIA is seeing an increase in the number of poor quality motor oils and transmission fluids in the marketplace with labels describing the products as “top off oil. The term “top

Room for Improvement
The Petroleum Quality Institute of America Encourages Responsible Labeling of Motor Oils and Says There is Clearly Room for Improvement. An area where PQIA sees considerable room for improvement is with motor oils only meeting obsolete API specifications (SA, SB, SC, SD, SE). Whereas there are certain applications where these products are appropriate, they generally
Get These Bad Bottles Off the Shelves!
Whereas most private label lubricant brands on the shelves are typically quality products that meet the most recent specifications and often provide consumers with lower price alternatives to major brands, PQIA has found some that give the industry a bad name. This is because these bad bottles in the business can cause damage to engines
Do you know what you are buying?
Ninety percent of those in the know in our industry would not have their car serviced with engine oil without knowing the brand, viscosity grade, and API Service Classification of the product used. The Petroleum Quality Institute of America conducted a survey completed by 161 industry participants, including major oil companies, independent lubricant manufacturers, lubricant
Stop the Slop of Harmful Engine Oils Sold in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin
A Call to Action: If you care about the car you, your wife, husband, son, daughter, auntie, uncle, cousin or friends are driving in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, read on. And when you do, get the word out to your friends on Facebook, Linkedin, MySpace, Twitter, Tumblr, and any others. This is an important message!

Inconvenient Truth About Convenience Store Motor Oil
We expect the motor oils we purchase for our cars to protect our engines from wear, sludge, and rust, and indeed most of the oils on retail shelves do so quite well. But there are some products out there that will not only fail to protect your engine; instead they will actually damage it! And
More on MaxLife ATF
PQIA received a number of calls and emails following the update it published last week on the assessment of the Valvoline MaxLife DEX/MERC ATF. Understandably, due to the label on the product prominently stating “DEX/MERC,” and the Product Information sheet stating “Suitable for use in: Ford MERCON®” most of the questions were directed at asking

Alarms Should Go Off When You Read "Top-Off" on an Oil Bottle
The Petroleum Quality Institute of America advises consumers to be cautious of motor oil and transmission fluids labeled or sold as “top off” oil. PQIA is seeing an increase in the number of poor quality motor oils and transmission fluids in the marketplace with labels describing the products as “top off oil. The term “top

Alarms Should Go Off When You Read “Top-Off” on an Oil Bottle
The Petroleum Quality Institute of America advises consumers to be cautious of motor oil and transmission fluids labeled or sold as “top off” oil. PQIA is seeing an increase in the number of poor quality motor oils and transmission fluids in the marketplace with labels describing the products as “top off oil. The term “top

Room for Improvement
The Petroleum Quality Institute of America Encourages Responsible Labeling of Motor Oils and Says There is Clearly Room for Improvement. An area where PQIA sees considerable room for improvement is with motor oils only meeting obsolete API specifications (SA, SB, SC, SD, SE). Whereas there are certain applications where these products are appropriate, they generally
Get These Bad Bottles Off the Shelves!
Whereas most private label lubricant brands on the shelves are typically quality products that meet the most recent specifications and often provide consumers with lower price alternatives to major brands, PQIA has found some that give the industry a bad name. This is because these bad bottles in the business can cause damage to engines
Do you know what you are buying?
Ninety percent of those in the know in our industry would not have their car serviced with engine oil without knowing the brand, viscosity grade, and API Service Classification of the product used. The Petroleum Quality Institute of America conducted a survey completed by 161 industry participants, including major oil companies, independent lubricant manufacturers, lubricant
Stop the Slop of Harmful Engine Oils Sold in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin
A Call to Action: If you care about the car you, your wife, husband, son, daughter, auntie, uncle, cousin or friends are driving in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, read on. And when you do, get the word out to your friends on Facebook, Linkedin, MySpace, Twitter, Tumblr, and any others. This is an important message!
Featured Articles
Resources
AAA – American Automobile Association
ACC – American Chemistry Council
ACEA – European Automobile Manufacturers Association
AFPM – American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers
AOCA – Automotive Oil Change Association
API – American Petroleum Institute
ASA – The Automotive Service Association
ATIEL – Association Technique de l’Industrie Européenne des Lubrifiants (ATIEL)
Automotive Maintenance & Repair Association
CAAM – China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM)
CEC – Coordinating European Council (CEC)
CRC – Coordinating Research Council
EMA – Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association
ILMA – Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association
International Council of Machinery Lubrication
JAMA – Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc.
KAMA – Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA)
Municipal Fleet Managers Association
NAFA Fleet Management Association
NLGI – National Lubricating Grease Institute
NORA – An Association of Responsible Recyclers
OICA – The International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers
PMAA – Petroleum Marketers Association of America
PQIA – Petroleum Quality Institute of America
SAE – Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
SIGMA – Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America
STLE – Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers
The World Refining Association
UEIL – Union Indépendante de l’Industrie Européenne des Lubrifiants
Passenger Car Engine Oil (PCEO)
Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF)
John Deere Tractor Hydraulic Fluid
Volvo T-13 Engine Oil Oxidation Test
SAE Viscosity Grade Specifications
Evolution of Motor Oil Viscosity Grades
Viscosity Specifications for ATFs
Understanding Viscosity Modifiers
Consumer Alert
Due to the high viscosity, absence of additives vital to protecting an engine from deposits and wear, high phosphorus content, and labeling violations, PQIA has issued a Consumer Alert on Super Green Smokeless Motor Oil. Use of this product in virtually all automobile engines will likely cause harm to the engine. Read More>>
PQIA Supporters
The Following Companies Support the Petroleum Quality Institute of America’s Efforts to Help Assure the Quality and Integrity of Lubricants in the Marketplace.
PQIA Advisory Board
PQIA Advisory Board
The Petroleum Quality Institute of America’s Advisory Board comprises a distinguished group of professionals with prominence in a broad range of fields in the lubricants business. The role of the Advisory Board is to provide PQIA’s management with guidance, advice, recommendations and counsel in how to best pursue PQIA’s purpose and mission. MORE>>
Petroleum Quality Institute of America
406 Main Street
Metuchen, NJ 08840
Phone: 732-201-4033